IPSD 204 RFP Absence and Time Solution Final 11.01.24.pdf

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

(RFP) For

Indian Prairie Community Unit School District #204

Issued: November 1, 2024

Proposals Due: November 25, 2024

Sealed Proposals must be returned to:

Carey Beth Harry Chief Human Resources Officer

780 Shoreline Road Aurora, IL 60504

INTRODUCTION

Indian Prairie Community Unit School District #204 (“Indian Prairie” or “the district”) is soliciting proposals to provide absence and time management solutions with a functional web-based application and equipment that offers flexible methods of recording and tracking time and attendance and is available 24/7/365 to provide for automated absence and time reporting for employee groups who work varying positions in over 30 buildings throughout the district. Absence and time management solutions include comprehensive absence tracking, absence fulfillment, and time tracking capabilities.

Indian Prairie is the fourth largest school district in the State of Illinois, serving approximately 26,000 students. The district serves students from the cities of Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook and Plainfield. The district’s total operating budget is approximately $435.2 million. Indian Prairie has approximately 3,200 full time equivalents, and 700 temporary staff.

Indian Prairie’s primary goal of this project is to replace the current system and provide an accurate and efficient feed of time directly into the District’s payroll system (Skyward) allowing for accurate payroll calculations while eliminating the need for manual time entry that is labor-intensive and prone to human error. Additionally, the primary goals for the RFP process are:

● To select a vendor partner with a proven methodology and execution history that will meet the district’s needs;

● To work with the vendor to develop an implementation plan that will allow for the completion of deliverables in a timely and well thought out manner;

● To work with Indian Prairie School District 204 to review existing processes and determine how those processes can be implemented with the new solution(s) or how processes can be changed to take advantage of maximum functionality of the new solution(s) and to make district processes peerless to the fullest extent possible;

● To fully integrate the solution with our ERP and Single Sign On solution;

● To move away from maintaining multiple systems to the extent possible;

● To obtain a complete understanding of total costs including licensing, hardware, software, on-going support, consulting and expense costs of this engagement.

CONTRACT

Contract prices must be firm for a ninety (90) day period from the proposal due date to allow acceptance by the Board.

RESPONSE DATE

Two bound copies of your proposal and an electronic copy must be received by Carey Beth Harry no later than 1:00 p.m. on November 25, 2024. Proposals must be submitted in a sealed envelope clearly marked, “Absence and Time Management Proposal”. It is the sole responsibility of the respondent to ensure that Indian Prairie receives its response by the time and date noted above.

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS FROM RESPONDENTS

Questions or requested clarifications regarding the requirements of this RFP must be addressed to Carey Beth Harry via email (carey_harry@ipsd.org) no later than 1:00 p.m.

on November 8, 2024. The district will provide a written email response that identifies every question submitted along with our answer to every respondent who requests a copy and who transmits his/her email address to Carey Beth Harry. The district will respond to questions submitted after the deadline at its sole discretion.

SCHEDULE

Indian Prairie is setting this initial schedule for action, and except for the Proposal Due Date, reserves the right to alter the scheduled dates, if necessary.

RFP Schedule Action Date RFP Issued: November 1, 2024 Deadline for questions and clarifications: November 8, 2024 Proposals Due: November 25, 2024 Finalist Notification: December 2, 2024 Interviews (Selected Finalists): December 12, 2024 Board Approval: January 13, 2025 Engagement: January - June, 2025 Implementation Date: July 1, 2025

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Indian Prairie reserves the right to accept any proposal, to reject any or all proposals, waive any and all requirements of this RFP, or to waive any informality in proposals received when such acceptance, rejection or waiver is considered to be in the best interest of Indian Prairie 204 and its employees. This request does not obligate Indian Prairie to pay any cost incurred by vendors related to submission of proposals in response to this RFP.

Upon evaluation of the proposals, Indian Prairie 204 will identify companies who will be interviewed. Indian Prairie 204 will conduct interviews with a selection of the submitters in order to discuss technical and/or other aspects of the proposals, including pricing, after proposals have been submitted. Interviews will be conducted by the District’s Absence and Time committee from 1-4 PM on December 12, 2024.

Proposals must address each specification directly and to the point. Any deviation from the specifications must be noted.

mailto:carey_harry@ipsd.org

By submitting a proposal, the provider is indicating that he/she has read, understands and agrees to all points in the specifications. Unsigned proposals will be rejected. Proposals should include a statement of any areas of possible “conflict of interest” with Indian Prairie 204 officials and employees.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Indian Prairie, in its discretion, may terminate the agreement in whole or in part at any time, whenever it is determined that the successful solution has failed to comply with or breached one or more of the terms and conditions of the agreement or specifications incorporated therein. In the event of the partial or total termination of the agreement, it is hereby agreed that Indian Prairie shall only be obligated to pay in accordance with the terms of the agreement for materials and services, which have been accepted by the district.

QUALIFICATIONS OF VENDORS

The district absence and time committee believes that there are specific qualifications that a vendor must meet in order to be considered for this effort. Vendors who do not meet these qualifications may choose to present a proposal, though they should be prepared to demonstrate how their services would overcome any shortcomings. The specific qualifications for this effort are:

● Capabilities to offer a robust and user friendly product that meets the majority of the requirements identified in this request.

● Background in performing analysis within the public school Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade environment including understanding of:

○ How large unit districts operate

○ Human Resource requirements of Illinois school districts

○ Legal requirements of Illinois school districts

○ Reporting requirements of Illinois school districts, including TRS Gemini

● Reputation and prior experience within the public school Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade industry, including at least three Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade districts in Illinois, at least five Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade districts of our size throughout the nation, and at least five Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade districts using Skyward.

SCOPE OF SERVICES

The vendor selected will be expected to provide the following services for Indian Prairie.

A. General System Requirements

○ Time Entry – Data collection methods should include web-based time entry and keypad devices. All devices must be capable of displaying accrued leave balances, supporting work schedules, requests for time off and labor distribution.

○ Interface – A bi-directional interface is necessary to facilitate the upload of time entry and retrieval of leave balance information with Skyward.

○ Software Updates – Software updates must be available as part of the contract, unless specifically noted otherwise.

B. Functional Requirements

○ Access to the system must include compatibility with the District’s Single Sign

On solution.

○ The application should provide a method to digitally authenticate the time entries for each employee.

○ The applications should provide real-time management notifications through work flow for approaching overtime and schedule deviations.

○ The applications should allow administrative overrides by authorized users.

○ The applications should accommodate flexible work schedules.

○ The application should allow download of data to spreadsheets.

○ The application should have the ability to record time in/out for numerous employees in a short period of time and by multiple platforms.

○ The application should allow for time entry or recovery in the event of a system failure or the connection to the server is lost.

○ The application should allow exceptions such as no time in/out, early in/out, late in/out, etc.

○ The application should provide report functions that are easy to run and understand and to detail all time and absence information. Authorized users should be allowed to customize, generate and print reports.

○ The application should track all transactions, including changes made in the system by authorized users, and provide a complete audit trail of all transactions.

○ Ability to apply general and district specific work rules.

○ Ability to calculate prorated accrual throughout the year and apply the District rollover rules every fiscal year end.

○ Ability to apply multiple calendars and work schedules to various employee groups.

C. Technical Requirements

○ Vendor shall propose a web-based solution hosted independently of the District’s network domain.

○ SSL shall be required for all HTTP traffic between client interfaces and host web server(s).

○ Vendor shall guarantee hosted solution provide at least 99.9% uptime and offer a backup system in case of failure.

D. Training and Support

○ Vendor must be able to provide ongoing technical support.

○ Provide on-site documentation.

○ Provide administrator training.

○ Provide end-user training (train the trainer).

○ Provide detailed activity logging and the ability to research issues/errors.

METHOD OF SELECTION

Vendor selection shall be determined by an evaluation of the total content of the proposal submitted. The following will serve as the basic criteria for the selection of the consultant chosen.

● Understanding of the work required by Indian Prairie 204 as evidenced by the proposal.

● Total resources of the vendor that can be applied to the advantage of Indian Prairie 204.

● The scope of services offered and to the extent to which they meet or exceed the requirements of Indian Prairie 204.

● Experience with similar organizations and the result of reference checks.

● The total cost of the services offered to Indian Prairie 204.

The district shall not be obligated to explain the results of the evaluation process to any vendor.

GENERAL CONDITIONS

A. No Obligation to Award

This RFP solicitation does not oblige Indian Prairie to award a contract to any respondent. Indian Prairie may, at its discretion, revise the selection process, the schedule of events or anticipated date of award, may request further information from any respondent or may withdraw this RFP in part or in its entirety.

B. Withdrawal

A respondent may withdraw its proposal without prejudice to itself, by submitting a written request for its withdrawal to Carey Beth Harry at any time during the entire selection process.

C. Rejection of Proposal

Indian Prairie may reject any and all proposals. Indian Prairie will reject the proposal of any party who has been delinquent or unfaithful in any former contract with the district. The right is reserved to reject any or all proposals, and to waive technical defects, as the interests of Indian Prairie are best served.

D. Confidentiality

All vendor-supplied materials, including response to the RFP, become the property of Indian Prairie 204. The district will respect the confidentiality of the information provided under each proposal and will work with all vendors to meet their confidentiality requirements, provided they are within reason. However, proposals are subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

D. Exceptions

Any exceptions to terms, conditions, or other requirements in any part of the RFP must be clearly pointed out in a distinct section of the appropriate cost proposal.

Otherwise, the District will consider that all items offered are in strict compliance with the RFP, and the successful proposer will be responsible for compliance.

Direct requests to:

Carey Beth Harry Chief Human Resources Officer carey_harry@ipsd.org mailto:carey_harry@ipsd.org

Request for Proposal Cover Form

From: _______________________________________________

I have examined the specifications and instructions included herein and agree, provided I am awarded a contract within 90 days of RFP due date, to provide the specified items in accordance with the terms stated herein. All deviations from specifications and terms are in writing and attached hereto.

Designee’s Name and Company

Signature Date

Address

City, State, Zip Code

Work Phone Number Work Email Address

By submitting a proposal, the provider is indicating that he/she has read, understands and agrees to all points in the proposal. Unsigned proposals will be rejected.

RFP Required Information

This section of the RFP provides proposers with instructions concerning required information that must be submitted as part of their proposal. Proposers must arrange their proposal in the order outlined in these instructions. Failure to provide any of the required information or required documents or failure to arrange the proposal in accordance with these instructions may result in the proposal being rejected.

Structure and Philosophy

1. Describe your organization, its history and size (revenue and number of employees) as well as location(s).

2. Are there any judgments, claims or suits pending or outstanding by or against you? If yes, submit details.

3. Define the organization’s structure with regard to compliance updates and issues.

Service Team

1. How many of your employees will be assigned to the account? Provide a brief biography detailing the roles of each person to be assigned.

2. How does your company provide better services to Clients than other competitors in the market?

References

1. Describe your organization’s experience working with similar organizations.

Experience must include references of at least three K-12 districts in Illinois, at least five K-12 districts of our size throughout the nation, and at least five districts using Skyward.

2. Provide at least three current client references, and one former client reference.

Please provide the names of the clients, approximate number of employees, years of service to the client and the contacts for each client.

Client Support Service

1. What technology resources or knowledge does your company offer clients to streamline or improve their absence and time management? Describe any in-house tools and/or technology available for School District access. Is there any additional cost?

2. What additional resources or services does your company provide outside of the annual bid or contract process?

3. Please list the areas of compliance that you work with your clients on.

4. What steps do you take to ensure your clients are up-to-date on current laws and legislation that may impact their absence and time administration? Are there additional expenses or costs for your compliance services or assistance (i.e. assistance in reporting information and implementing the process)?

5. How do you simplify the absence and time management process for your clients and their employees?

New Client Implementation

1. Describe in detail the user training that your firm provides prior to installation and startup. Include details regarding preferred training methods, time required for each module, and training locations.

2. Does your firm have a process for retraining after the initial installation period? If a follow up session is not part of your standard training package, provide details as to how your firm ensures that the School District is using the system to its fullest capacity.

3. Attach a schedule of application post implementation, professional development, and software training fees.

4. You will provide a detailed implementation plan that includes planning and check-in meetings throughout the implementation cycle and at least one post-implementation support meeting in the summer and one in September for preparation of the first school year payroll.

5. What added time and resources should your new clients anticipate during their first year with your team?

Pricing Please indicate your annual fee for the solution and explain the fee structure for any additional services requested by Indian Prairie and give examples of projects that would not fall within the scope of the annual fee indicated above.

Please list any optional services your company may offer and the additional fee for each service.

Please disclose any and all compensation earned through any provider doing business with Indian Prairie 204.

Please include a sample contract.